Srishti Sadhir

Srishti is a physiologist and maternal health researcher interested in how humans and
other primates manage the energy costs of pregnancy. She received her PhD in
Evolutionary Anthropology from Duke University in 2025, advised by Dr. Herman
Pontzer. In a cohort of highly active women, she measured energy balance, body
composition, and health outcomes during pregnancy—finding a limit to maternal energy
metabolism, even with the competing energy demands of fetal growth and physical
activity.
As a Donnelley Postdoctoral Associate in the Yale Institute of Biospheric Studies and
Department of Anthropology, Srishti continues to assess how maternal and fetal health
outcomes are impacted by physiological trade-offs within a limited energy budget.
Working with Dr. Richard Bribiescas, she is investigating possible molecular (hormone)
mechanisms driving energy trade-offs in pregnancy.

List of Publications:

Sadhir, S., McGrosky, A., Swanson, Z.S., Tavormina, A., Tomechko, K., & Pontzer, H. (2025). Physical activity and heat stress shape water needs in pregnant endurance athletes. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. Special Issue: Evolution of Water Needs, Heat Stress, & Climate Change. eoaf003. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoaf003 

McGrosky, A., Ford, L., Hinz, E., Sadhir, S., Wambua, F., Braun, D.R., Douglass, M., Ndiema, E., Nzunza, R., Rosinger, A.Y., & Pontzer, H. (2025). High water turnover, hydration status and heat stress across the life course in an arid/semi-arid climate. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health. Special Issue: Evolution of Water Needs, Heat Stress, & Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoaf017

Rosinger, A.Y., McGrosky, A., Jacobson, H., Hinz, E., Sadhir, S., Wambua, F., Otube, T., Baker, L., Sherwood, A., Mbeng, T.-C., Broyles, L., Musumeci, C., Meriwether, N., Bobbie, N., Farrar, Z., Todd, M., Nguyen, Z., Berger, G., Ford, L.B., Braun, D.R., Douglass, M., Hunter, M., Farquhar, W., Kenney, W.L., Sands, J., Nzunza, R., Ndiema, E., & Pontzer, H. (2025). Drinking water NaCl associated with hypertension and albuminuria: A panel study. Hypertension. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.125.24751 

Roba, K.T., Jacobson, H., McGrosky A., Sadhir, S., Ford, L.B., Pfaff, M., Kim, E.Y., Douglass, M., Braun, D.R., Ndiema, E., Urlacher, S.S., Pontzer, H., & Rosinger, A.Y. (2025) Chronic stress and severe water insecurity during the historic 2022 drought in northern Kenya are associated with inflammation among Daasanach semi-nomadic pastoralists. American Journal of Human Biology. Special Issue: Human Biology of Pastoralists. 37(2): e70009. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70009 

Sadhir, S., McGrosky, A., Ford, L.B., Nzunza, R., Wemanya, S.N., Mashaka, H., Kinyanjui, R., Ndiema, E., Braun, D.R., Rosinger, A.Y., & Pontzer, H. (2024). Physical activity and pregnancy norms among Daasanach semi-nomadic pastoralist women in Northern Kenya. American Journal of Human Biology. e24174.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.24174 

Rosinger, A.Y., Stoler, J., Ford, L.B., McGrosky, A., Sadhir, S., Ulrich, M., Todd M., Bobbie, N., Nzunza, R., Braun, D.R., Ndiema, E.K., Douglass, M.J., & Pontzer, H. (2024). Mobility ideation due to water problems during historic 2022 drought associated with livestock wealth, water and food insecurity, and fingernail cortisol concentration in northern Kenya. Social Science & Medicine. 359: 117280.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117280 

Sadhir, S. & Pontzer, H. (2023). Impact of energy availability and physical activity on variation in fertility across human populations. Journal of Physiological Anthropology. 42(1): 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-023-00318-3 

Parker, C.H., Sadhir, S., Swanson, Z., McGrosky, A., Hinz, E., Urlacher, S., & Pontzer, H. (2023). Effect of influenza vaccination on resting metabolic rate and c-reactive protein concentrations in healthy young adults. PLOS ONE. 18(12): e0295540.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295540 

Klasson, C., Sadhir, S., & Pontzer, H. (2022). Daily physical activity is negatively associated with thyroid hormone and immune system markers among men and women in the NHANES dataset. PLOS ONE. 17(7): e0270221.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270221